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Crinkled copper makes for unique light and shadow effects

Text: Sabrina Schluckebier

Attention all meteorite collectors – now you have the chance to install a part of the galaxy in your own four walls!

The idea of an enormous blazing meteorite smashing its way through the earth’s atmosphere and causing Armageddon is fortunately purely fictional, but it is impressive enough to spark a creative idea for a unique product. Reminiscent of an exploding fireball, but totally harmless, would be an apt description of the innovative decorative luminaire designed by Christina Behrens – founder of “2488 Leuchten” – and given the appropriate name of “Meteorite”. Christina Behrens specialises in the design and construction of highly individual luminaires and light art objects.

The product designer and architect draws inspiration for her designs from nature. That said, Meteorite is not a glorification of Armageddon-like scenarios, but rather a celebration of the remarkable glowing celestial body itself. The Meteorite table lamp is a further development of its big brother, a 90-centimetre diameter pendant luminaire, which was custom made for the showroom of an exclusive interior design specialist based in in Hamburg. The focus of Behrens’ work is the emotion the luminaire arouses in the user. Anyone watching a meteorite fall to earth is stunned and amazed at the spectacle. This is the special presence the luminaire is designed to generate in a private home: the person living there, as well as family, friends and guests, are meant to gaze in wonder at the stunning effects and atmosphere the man-made fireball radiates.

When designing the Meteorite luminaire, the objective was to create an object that would glow brightly from within but without causing glare. The copper is pre-treated to prevent it from tarnishing, its warm colour supporting the cosy atmosphere idea. Christina Behrens likes working with copper for this very reason: it enhances the warmer parts of the spectrum, is easy to bend and shape, and radiates a certain quality and authenticity. The effects generated by the 0.3 millimetre thick copper crinkled to form the shape of a ball are similar to the natural spectacle it aims to simulate: apparently arbitrary and irregular openings in the copper shell give rise to delicate, jagged light and shadow patterns on the surface of the luminaire as well as on the surrounding walls – depending on where the luminaire is placed. Fascinating reflections conjure up images of a real fireball, making the luminaire unique and adding a galactic quality to the living space. Adjacent walls are bathed in warm light, as if near an open fire.

The carefully formed copper body is riveted to a base that contains the light source, whereby the rivets and the base remain completely invisible to the onlooker. The E27 screw-type lamp holder takes a 6 watt LED retrofit lamp, a 45 watt high-voltage halogen lamp or an energy saving lamp. Cable, switch and plug are transparent, thus keeping the technical components in the background and rendering the glowing “celestial body” the focus of attention.

The galaxy, and all the mysteries it contains, is extraordinary to us earthlings and serves well as a source of inspiration for human creativity. The Meteorite luminaire shows that it sometimes only takes a push from nature to enable us to develop an inspirational idea and create a touch of the ultra-special.

Meteorite is also available as a free-standing or pendant luminaire, or for mounting on ceilings, in different designs and diameters from 30 to 100 centimetres.

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